have already tasted two of the Octavin Home Wine Bar artisan white wines and did review the Sauvignon Blanc from that collection and was looking forward to trying the Zin, but not necessarily writing a review. I've been holding out on the wine reviews until everything gets back to normal after my surgery. Best of all is the price. MORE >>

would have pulled out a nice Gewurztraminer if I had one, but settled for a Fontana Candida Frascati Superiore DOC 2008. Its characteristic taste is fresh and distinctive, with just a hint of almond. Getting time to clean out the old wine fridge. 10 *Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the PR folks representing the brand. MORE >>

We like to end the class in style: a giant edition of show and tell and taste. Each participant brings in a wine to present to the class, which means we get to taste about 25 wines that evening. The most recent session of my six-week introductory wine class at NYU wrapped up last week. It is an assignment! Good times! MORE >>

had the opportunity to meet vignerons and taste over 300 wines last week in situ. also blind tasted 70 Loire wines at the NY offices of Wine & Spirits a couple of weeks before I left. will add some more flesh to these bare bones in a future posts, particularly for Muscadet, some cabernet franc, and one heirloom variety. MORE >>

I recently tweeted that I’d be leading a tasting of hipster wines. The tasting on Manhattan’s Upper East Side came and went and I didn’t wear a woolen cap, flannel shirt, or use empty 40-ounce cans of PBR as decanters. But we did taste some fine and fun wines, if quirky and hard to find (though not in Brooklyn). MORE >>